Listening to the chorus of various birds singing and calling each new morning through opened windows, I have grown accustomed to hearing the special song of one species as a reflection of some words I’ve uttered aloud and silently countless times! Their constant and unique cooing song sounds rhythmically like Da da da dahhhh. Repeatedly each sings out. And to me I hear, “Give us this day . . . give us this day . . .”   

Especially in the earliest morning each brand new day, I imagine these birds seeking their daily grace from God as well. I’m reminded of God’s faithful promise in His word found in Luke 12, beginning in verse 22 . . to cast our cares on Him, by paying witness to the birds and all of nature each provided for anew this day. These particular birds’ staccato message each new day reminds me of Our Lord’s Prayer, of which Jesus first spoke during the Sermon on the Mount, when He was asked by His disciples how to pray in the days just prior to His crucifixion. That prayer is our instruction on how to pray; found in Matthew 6: 9 – 15. As I’ve been taught and reminded over my lifetime to pray this: Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who’ve trespassed against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the Kingdom, the power and the glory, forever and ever, Amen. This most thoughtful instruction is a way to pray daily a prayer of intercession for all the world’s sake – as there is no “me” or “I” but rather “us” and “our”; in peaceful rest, with trusting obedience and faithful certainty that God is still and always God.

From the Brooklyn Museum, “The Lord’s Prayer”, le “pater noster”, by James Tissot.

Give us this day, as we trust in, lean upon and rely solely on You, Father. We thank You for the infinite ways in which you’ve provided for our needs, and we ask Your forgiveness for the infinite ways in which we’ve neglected to take notice of the depth, breadth and scope of Your wondrous love!